1. River Dynasties in China
Chapter 2 Section 4

2. Geography of China and Environmental Challenges
Natural barriers isolated China from the rest of the world
Two major rivers flow from the mountainous west to the Pacific
The Huang He or Yellow River is in the North
Yangtze is central
These rivers would deposit huge amounts of yellowish silt when it overflows its banks and this made the soil fertile and was called loess
Faced flooding like other civilizations and sometimes was so bad it was known as China’s Sorrow
Settlers had to supply their own goods rather than trade with outside peoples
Their boundaries did not really protect them from invasions

3. Civilization emerges in Shang Times
Fossils remains show that modern humans lived in SW China about 1.7 million years ago
They have found Homo Erectus fossils near Beijing

4. The First Dynasties
Even before the Sumerians settled in Mesopotamia China was farming and setting up shop
According to legend the first Chinese dynasty was the Xia Dynasty
Its leader was an engineer and mathematician named Yu
His flood control and irrigation projects helped tame the Huang He
Around the time the other civilizations were falling, the people called the Shang rose to power in China
This group was the first to leave written records

5. Early cities Oldest and most important city was Anyang and the capital
Anyang was built mostly of wood and stood in a forest clearing
Higher classes lived in timer framed houses with walls of clay and straw peasants had huts
Shang surrounded their cities by walls for protection
They needed this because they were constantly at war
Chariot was invented here
Early cities

6. Development of Chinese Culture
Anyone living outside of China were considered barbarians
Chief loyalty in life was the family
Aside from that they owed allegiance to the ruler just as they did their elders
Family
Family was central (most important virtue was respect for one’s parents
Elder men in the family controlled the Family's property and made important decisions
Women were treated as inferiors and when she was between her marriage was arranged and she moved in with her husband
Only by bearing sons could improve her status

7. Social Classes Sharply divided between nobles and peasants
Ruling class of warrior-nobles headed by a king governed the Shang
They owned land and governed scattered villages

8. Religious Beliefs Family was linked closely to religion
Believed that the spirits of family ancestors had the power to bring good fortune or disaster to living members
Every family paid respect to the father’s ancestors and made sacrifices in their honor
Shang worshiped a supreme god Shang Di
Shang kings consulted the gods through the use of oracle bones, animal bones and tortoise shells on which priests had scratched questions for the gods
After inscribing the question on the bone, a priest applied a hot poker to it, which cracked it Priests then interpreted the cracks to see how the gods had answered

9. Development of writing
Each character generally stand for one syllable or unit of language
No link between the written and spoken language
You could read the language without being able to speak it
The main advantage was that anyone could learn the system of writing which helped unify the large diverse land
Disadvantage was the large number of written character to be memorized
A person needed to know over 1,500 character to be barely literate and to be a scholar you had to know at least 10,000

10. Zhou and the Dynastic Cycle
1027 people called the Zhou overthrew the Shang and had their own dynasty
Adopted the Shang culture and brought new ideas

11. Mandate of heaven
To justify their conquest they declared that the Shang king had been such a poor ruler that the gods had taken away the Shang’s rule and gave it to Zhou
A just ruler had divine approval, known as the Mandate of Heaven
Wicked or foolish king could lose the Mandate of Heaven and so lose the right to rule
This was the central view of government
The mandate of heaven might pass to another noble family and this was the explanation for rebellion, civil war, and the rise of new dynasties and this is known as the dynastic cycle

12. Control Through Feudalism
Zhou controlled lands that stretched past the river and far south.
To govern they gave control to different members of royal families and other nobles
This is feudalism and is a political system in which nobles, or lords are granted the use of lands that legally belong to the king and in return the nobles owe loyalty and military service to the king and protection to the people who live on their estates

13. Improvements to Tech and Trade
Roads and canals were built to help with trade and agriculture
Coined money was introduced
Blast furnace produced
Cast iron production would not be matched in Europe until the middle ages

14. Period of Warring State
Zhou was generally peaceful and stable
Gradually weakened
Nomads from the North and West sacked the capital and murdered the monarch
Few members of the royal family escaped and set up a new capital
They were powerless though
Lords sought any opportunity to fight with other lords to grow in power and they started to claim to be kings of their own areas
Love of order, harmony and respect for authority had been replaced with chaos, arrogance, and defiance